COMnGO Erasmus+ Project brought me here

By 30th August 2018Stories

By Simone Guiducci.

I came here for a work exchange within the European Project COMnGO, a Capacity Building which aims to develop and improve the capabilities of NGOs in the field of online marketing, web-design and internal and external communication.

We have developed different training to improve the knowledge and the available resources to all the NGOs that have participated. MSH is one of these. The main goal of my stay here was to finalize their website.

In the meantime, they sent their marketing manager, Alicia, to ADHC, my sending association in France, to take care of the marketing and help them out with their daily needs in terms of communication and promotion.

For about three years I have been working for two European NGOs working in the field of Erasmus+, a European funding program, which allows us to create these projects.

The work in Europe is especially aimed at young people aged among 17 to 30 years old, looking for opportunities of mobility and professional learning through volunteering experiences.

All I work for is very interesting and rewarding, but very far from the reality that I have lived here for two months.

The work of MiPequeñaAyuda focuses on the community in which he lives: Ollantaytambo. Located in the beautiful Sacred Valley, this small city lives a constant mass tourism that does not always convert into wellness opportunities for its inhabitants.

MSH’s work is as simple as it is fundamental. They take care of the community around them. Of their neighbors, of the weakest and most abandoned people.

The experience that touched me most was the work with Nati, a 75-year-old lady, paralyzed from the waist down, who lives in a very modest house. The thing that impressed me the most is not the unfortunate condition of this woman, but the strength and positivity with which she face her daily life.

Always smiling, she does not need anyone. She cooks, she takes care of her vegetable garden, she makes her bed and leads her life in complete autonomy, like everyone else. All this without ever losing her beautiful smile. She will always try to feed you as any grandmother would do, and, I warn you, is going to be an hard mission to refuse some soup or some just prepared choclo.

This thing, trivially, makes me think about how and how much we complain about problems that are not real problems. Being with Nati, makes you understand how lucky we are and how many things we have and we are not able to appreciate. What she does for you is much more than what you can ever do for her, because after all, she is used to this life.

Thanks to Nati to let me enter in her life, and let me help her for simple things, and thanks to teach me so much without saying anything.

Thanks to the family of MSH Peru for making me feel at home from the first day and to all the volunteers I met in these 6 weeks for sharing funny moments, yummy dinners and nice hiking around the Sacred Valley.

At last but not at least, tanks to ADHC and Associazione Kora to create this project and make all this possible.

If you are looking for a life changing experience, MSH Peru is what you are looking for.

 

About MySmallHelp Peru

MiPequeñaAyuda – MySmallHelp Peru is a non-profit organization founded on 2011, to support children and young adults with disabilities or low economic resources in the Cusco region by providing them access to education, health care and skills training.

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